U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,564 issued Jan. 19, 1965, discloses 3,5-bis(substituted amino)-1,2,4-dithiazolium salts of the formula ##EQU2## wherein X represents an anion of an acid having an ionization constant of at least 1 .times. 10.sup..sup.-7, and R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 represent certain substituted secondary amino groups. Examples given for R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 include dimethylamino, diethylamino, dipropylamino, dibutylamino, dilaurylamino, didodecylamino, dicyclohexylamino, methylstearylamino, distearylamino, diphenylamino, ditolylamino, tolylphenylamino, dinaphthylamino, methylphenylamino, butyltolylamino, cyclohexylphenylamino, piperidino and morpholino. The compounds are said to be useful to defoliate plants, specifically cotton.
Some of the compounds disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,564 are also known in the art as housefly chemosterilants [J. Econ. Ent. 62, 522 (1969), J. Med. Chem. 15, 315, (1972), and J. Econ. Ent. 65, 390 (1972)] and one of them, 3,5-bis(diethylamino)-1,2,4-dithiazolium chloride, is known as a Japanese beetle chemo-sterilant [J. Econ. Ent. 63, 458 (1970)].
It has also been discovered that compounds of U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,564 are miticides, insecticides, and fungicides. U.S. application Ser. No. 298,485, filed Oct. 18, 1972, now abandoned, as a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 149,328, filed June 2, 1971, now abandoned discloses the use of the compounds as miticides and insecticides. U.S. application Ser. No. 298,486, filed Oct. 18, 1972, now abandoned, discloses the use of the compounds as fungicides.